The Post Break-Up Conundrum
by Softkitty55
Summary: When Raj decides to follow his instincts to break up with Emily at their graveyard picnic, her true colors are revealed. Begins at Season 8 finale and Season 9 premiere, Leonard and Penny's marriage has a happy start here. HUGE NOTE: I do NOT own TBBT, it belongs to Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, not me!
1. Chapter 1

In the tranquil moonlit evening in Pasadena, Raj Koothrappali struggled to enjoy his date with his redheaded girlfriend Emily at a cemetery, knowing that it would be his last. It was the night that he decided to end their relationship. He tried his best to conceal his nervousness from Emily as he slowly sipped his glass of wine.

"You aren't scared, are you?" she questioned, noticing his anxiety.

Raj paused and looked at the gravestones that surrounded the couple.

"Of ghosts? No. Of you, a little bit." he awkwardly replied. He took another sip of wine.

The dermatologist inched towards Raj and kissed him all over the neck.

A rush of fear struck him as she kissed him. Raj felt paralyzed, not knowing what to say and he could not bear to kiss her back. Before he could utter a single word, Emily stopped kissing him and looked straight into his dark brown eyes.

"You okay?" she asked with concern.

Raj froze, knowing that he had to tell her at that moment. His heart began to pound.

"I think we should talk." he stated as he gripped both of her hands.

Emily gave him a shocked look.

"Look, I care about you a lot, but... we are very different people."

"Are you breaking up with me?" Emily sharply asked him, giving him a dirty look.

Raj's heart raced even faster. A cold sweat drenched his blue sweater vest.

"No, no. I'm just pointing out that you're dark in the inside and I'm dark on the outside," he stammered.

Emily squinted her eyes.

"Look, Raj. Be honest with me. If you want to end things, just do it. Don't expect me to do it for you," she said sternly.

Raj took a deep breath.

"You know what, actually... I... I am breaking up with you tonight. Like I said before, we are very different people. You're dark in-"

"What do you mean that I'm dark in the inside?" she barked, aggressively pulling herself away from Raj.

He nearly tumbled onto the grass and loudly gulped.

"Well, I don't know how to say this but face it, you like really dark stuff that most people don't like, as much as you do per se. Horror movies, blood, gore, decapitated heads, joking about people getting killed, and you get turned on by "A House of 1000 Corpses". And me, I'm a soft, sensitive Indian boy." he said nervously.

"So?" Emily hissed.

"You see, I feel that we aren't compatible enough. You have a twisted, macabre side in you-" he admitted.

Emily's furious face reddened. She splashed her glass of wine directly at Raj's jacket and slapped him across the face.

"Don't bother saying anything else Rajesh! I think you made your point very clear!" she screamed as she gathered her belongings and bolted towards the cemetery exit.

"Emily! I'm sorry! Wait! I'll drive you home!" Raj panted, trailing behind her.

"No! I'll take a cab, with someone who doesn't think I'm a twisted crazy woman!" she screamed back without looking back at him.

Raj tried to catch up with the heartbroken dermatologist but all too soon she disappeared into the dark of the night.

He slowly walked back into the silent cemetery, out of breath.

He grabbed the bottle of wine they used to celebrate their date from the grass.

Raj sadly sighed to himself, downing the half empty bottle.

Howard Wolowitz and his petite wife Bernadette celebrated Stuart Bloom's birthday with a simple cupcake and song, which he was very grateful for. The happy couple laid together in their bed, glad that they did not decide to evict Stuart from their house.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

"Who's coming here this late at night?" Bernadette questioned as the doorbell rang again.

"I'll answer it," Howard grumbled as he put on a pair of bright purple pants on. The doorbell rang for a third time.

"Coming!" he yelled.

Howard slowly opened the door to see Raj standing on his doorstep, looking shaken and reeking of alcohol along with a dark stain adorning his purple jacket.

"Hey buddy, you ok?" he asked his best friend with concern.

Raj shook his head.

"No. I broke up with Emily and it did not go well, at all." he sighed.

"Really? You... broke up with her?" Howard asked in shock.

Raj nodded without replying.

"I mean, she was willing to have sex with you and this was your longest relationship without depending on alcohol!" Howard shouted.

"I know. But you don't get it Howard. She really is a twisted woman and the thought of having sex at a cemetery gave me the heebie jeebies. We're two very different people!" Raj cried as he burst into tears.

"What's going on- oh Raj! What happened?" Bernadette yelled as she walked down the stairs in her pink pajamas.

"I-I broke up with Emily and-" Raj choked into his own sobs, unable to tell Bernadette.

"It's ok," Bernadette coaxed.

She gave him a gentle hug.

Howard patted him on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry it had to end that way buddy." he told Raj.

Raj sniffled.

"It's ok. I just had to do it, but it just made me so sad to see her so heartbroken."

Bernadette's phone suddenly rang.

Howard and Raj could hear Amy's voice through the phone but her words were jumbled.

Bernadette gasped.

"What? Why?"

Howard and Raj paused. Bernadette gestured towards them and whispered: "Amy broke up with Sheldon".

Amy's garbled voice on the phone grew louder and sobs sounded.

"I'm so sorry Amy. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"No." Amy's staticky voice sadly replied through the phone.

"Ok, let me know if you do. I'll be there for you."

Bernadette hung up and looked at Raj and Howard.

"Wow. Guess I'm not the only one whose heart was broken into millions of tiny pieces!" Raj yelled, brushing away a tear. He tightly hugged Bernadette, drowning in despair.


	2. Chapter 2

Raj struggled to stay asleep for the remainder of the night, with Emily trapped in his mind. He grabbed his laptop and logged into his Facebook account. He browsed through the many pictures of him and Emily together, deleting them one by one. He thought of the heartbreak she was enduring and the times they spent as a happy couple. As soon as he saw an ad for a special edition of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" he realized that his instincts were right and Emily was no match for him to begin with. Without any hesitation, he unfriended Emily.

Cinnamon loudly barked and tried to climb onto Raj's lap.

"Ok, daddy's here," he whispered as he gently picked her up. Cinnamon wagged her tail and licked Raj's face.

"Women, they are so fascinating yet, so unpredictable. You just never know with them. You're so lucky that you're a dog." Raj whispered. He gently closed his laptop and changed his iPhone cover wallpaper with a picture of Cinnamon sitting in her pink stroller.

"Who needs them?"

Raj finally fell asleep with Cinnamon in his arms as the sun slowly began to rise.

His phone suddenly dinged, jolting him awake. He carefully picked up his phone and a text message from Emily concealed his new cover wallpaper. It read:

 _Rajesh Koothrappali, this is not over._

Raj scratched his head, not knowing how to respond or interpret it. He stared at Emily's words wondering what she exactly meant. Before he could further analyze her text, Howard called him.

"Hello?" Raj responded.

"Hey buddy. How are you holding up?" Howard asked him.

"I'm much better now. I realized that Emily and I were no match in the first place."

"Makes sense to me but listen, I got some more news. Leonard and Penny are getting married in Vegas, today!"

"Really? Why didn't they tell or invite us?" Raj questioned.

"They just decided they would do it and technically we're invited because the wedding will be broadcasted online. We're all going to watch it at my house. You're welcome to join us! The wedding will be at 11 so I would come around 10."

"Of course! I got to come to support Leonard and Penny for their happy day! I love weddings!"

Raj soon lost interest in Leonard and Penny's abrupt wedding and focused on Emily's cryptic text.

"Howard, before we hang up I need to tell you something. Just before you called me, I got a text from Emily saying, it's not over Rajesh Koothrappali."

Howard paused for a few seconds.

"Hm. She's probably struggling to get over it and she's in denial now and you're the one who broke her heart." he replied.

"True. Should I worry about it?" Raj responded.

"Nah, I don't think so. Just give it a few days and she'll completely disappear and find someone who is just as twisted as she is."

Raj felt uneasy about Howard's suggestion.

"I suppose. I'm leaving now and I'll see you in a few minutes!"

As Raj drove, he could not get Emily's text out of his mind. Before he realized it, he was at the Wolowitz's driveway. He walked in to see Howard, Bernadette, Stuart and a sullen Amy all gathered in the living room. Sheldon was no where in sight.

He greeted each of his friends and looked over at Amy.

"I'm so sorry about you and Sheldon. I understand what you're going through right now. I broke up with Emily last night." he told her, gently placing his hand onto her shoulder.

"It's ok Raj. Bernadette told me." she sighed, clearly trying to avoid the subject.

Bernadette suddenly gasped.

Everyone turned to see Sheldon, standing right outside their window.

"God's sake Sheldon! What are you doing?!" Bernadette shouted.

"I didn't want to come in. I was told it would everyone feel uncomfortable. So, I'll just stay out here and pretend that I don't have to go to the bathroom." Sheldon's muffled voice replied.

"Howard do something!" Bernadette yelled.

Howard grudgingly stood up from the sofa and closed the black drapes.

A few seconds later, Bernadette opened the window and Sheldon did not budge from his spot.

"Sheldon, you're not making things any better." she hissed.

"Is this why everyone didn't invite me?" Sheldon demanded.

Amy glared at Sheldon.

"We all didn't just invite you. Bernadette invited me and Stuart lives here!" Amy shouted.

"I see. I will not leave. I'll just stand right here until someone lets me in." Sheldon declared.

Amy rolled her eyes.

"Fine Sheldon! You can come in!" she snapped as Bernadette answered the door.

Without greeting or thanking anyone, Sheldon walked past Bernadette and sat on the beige armchair across from Raj. Amy glared at Sheldon. He gave her a look of disgust.

Everyone fell silent. Sheldon glanced at Raj as cellos began to softly play "Here Comes the Bride" on the TV.

"Raj, you're probably wondering why Amy and I aren't showing any affectionate to one another." he told him.

"Yes! Amy broke up with you!" Raj snapped with annoyance.

"Excuse me, she told you-"

"Sheldon! Enough! The wedding's starting!" Amy yelled.

Raj's phone dinged again.

He looked down and another text from Emily appeared. It read:

 _I'm serious._

Seconds later, another text appeared:

 _DEAD SERIOUS._

Raj gulped and fixated on her texts. He drowned out Sheldon and Amy's raised voices. He wondered what kind of sick game Emily was playing on him. It could not possibly be denial alone.

"Will someone take me home?" Sheldon demanded.

"Ok! I'll give you a ride home!" Raj offered he jumped out of his seat, still glancing at his phone.

Raj and Sheldon quickly walked into Raj's car and drove away.

"Can you believe what Amy did to me!?" he shouted.

Raj did not have the slightest idea of what happened during the time when Emily's texts appeared.

"Yes! Amy and Bernadette told me all about it!" he blurted out.

"What did they say about me, Raj?" Sheldon snapped.

"Sheldon, enough. I don't know if you're aware that I broke up with Emily last night."

Sheldon gave him a puzzled look.

"No. I was not aware of this. May I ask you why?"

Raj cleared his throat.

"You see, Emily has a very twisted side in her. She likes gory horror movies, violence, blood, and she wanted to have sex with me at a cemetery..."

"Why on Earth would she want to do that?" Sheldon asked.

"Forget that. But my main concern are these three weird texts I got from her this morning and tell me what you think."

Raj handed Sheldon his phone. Sheldon closely observed all three texts. He tossed his phone back at Raj.

"Women are just the worst, aren't they? All they know how to do is to shatter your heart-"

Before Sheldon could finish his rant, a large black Hummer sped towards them right through a red light on Euclid Avenue.

Raj frantically sped ahead and barely missed the speeding Hummer.

Raj and Sheldon exchanged looks, neither saying a word. Seconds later, Raj's phone dinged once more.

Raj tightly gripped his phone and read Emily's latest text.

 _I know you read my texts Koothrapali. Respond now, you coward or you will be in grave danger._

A look of terror etched on Raj's sweaty face.

"Sheldon... do you think it was Emily who tried to run us over?" he shakily asked.

Sheldon looked at Raj with his piercing blue eyes.

"Hm. That I cannot determine this. It's nothing more than just a mere coincidence. Oh, how much I still hate Euclid Avenue." he replied with disinterest and annoyance.


	3. Chapter 3

After dropping Sheldon off at his apartment, Raj remained near the entrance, vigorously conjuring up ways to respond to Emily's threatening texts. His phone dinged once more. It was another text from Emily stating:

 _I'm warning you, Koothrappali..._

Raj's mind began to race as he finally was able to respond. He typed:

 _Emily, can you please stop threatening me? Just leave me alone! It's over!_

He let out a heavy sigh as soon as his text was successfully delivered. All too soon, Emily replied. The text read:

 _Rajesh, thank you for finally responding to me. And no, I will not leave you alone unless you..._

Raj paused and closely analyzed her response. He frantically typed back:

 _Unless what?_

He anxiously waited for her response, not knowing how much danger he might have been in. Two minutes had passed before a ding finally sounded. The newest text appeared and it read:

 _Unless you and I become a couple once more. If you agree I will never harm you or any of your friends. If you don't- the consequences will be very harsh. Make your decision...NOW_

Raj sped towards the Wolowitzs' house. He ran at their doorstep, still clutching his phone. He rang the bell and footsteps sounded. Howard opened the door.

"Hey Raj what's up? You missed Leonard and Penny's big moment!" he exclaimed.

"Howard. That doesn't matter right now! This is an emergency! I'm keep getting these alarming texts from Emily and oddly enough, Sheldon and I nearly got hit by a speeding Hummer when I was dropping him off at his place seconds before one of them came. Look at this!"

Raj handed his phone to his best friend. Howard closely read them. His light blue eyes widened in shock.

"Dear God. You should call the police right now. This is serious!" he shouted as another text from Emily emerged.

Howard read it out loud. "It says 'I'm waiting...' "

"I just can't be with Emily, at all. Not only she is twisted and crazy, but she's threatening me, and you guys too!" Raj stammered as he paced back and forth.

"We just can't let this go on! Call them, now!" Howard shouted as Raj dialed 911. Just minutes later, two police officers appeared: a plump, middle-aged woman and a tall, slender young man easily in his twenties.

"We responded a call that someone was receiving threatening texts." the female police officer robotically told them.

Howard and Raj looked at each other.

"Yeah, me! Check this out!"

The female police officer seized Raj's phone and closely analyzed Emily's texts. The male officer looked over her shoulder. The female officer finally looked at the two men.

"This is unacceptable. Can you please identify this woman?" she asked them as the male officer grabbed his yellow notepad and a pencil.

"Uh, her name is Emily Sweeney and she is a dermatologist at Huntington Hospital. We have been dating for eight months and we just broke up last night." Raj nervously replied.

The male officer quickly jotted notes.

"And she lives at-"

A new text from Emily cut him off.

 _I will be waiting for you at your place and make up your mind as soon as you see me..._

Raj loudly gasped.

"Oh no! We got to go there now and save Cinnamon!" he cried in terror as he told them his address. He and the others bolted out of the Wolowitz household.

Howard and Raj followed the police car to Raj's apartment complex in Howard's car.

Raj glanced at his cover wallpaper photo of Cinnamon, trembling.

"Will you relax, they'll find her!" Howard exclaimed.

Raj shook his head.

"I just hope she doesn't hurt my baby!"

The drive seemed like an eternity to Raj, knowing that his beloved dog could possibly be in danger. When they finally reached to Raj's apartment complex, he lead Howard and the cops to his apartment. Before anyone could open the door, Raj blocked the way.

"I have an idea. I will greet Emily and tell her that I made a decision. And as soon as she asks, you two will catch her and everything will be okay! Sounds like a plan?" he whispered.

Raj quietly walked towards the door, with no one in front of it. Raj began to feel sweaty under his sweater vest and his heart began to pound, realizing that Emily had somehow broken in. He took a deep breath and knocked the door.

Howard stood not too far from Raj, nervously shifting his weight.

The door swung open and Emily appeared, clutching Cinnamon and holding a steak knife at her throat.

"Hello Rajesh. I'm so sorry that I have to hold your precious dog hostage but all of this can be avoided if you and I become an item again..." she seductively declared.

Cinnamon whimpered in terror and Raj felt a lump in his throat.

"Emily, I made my decision, with a little help with some friends!" he blurted out as he waved his left hand from behind. Moments later, Howard and the cops rushed in.

"What's going on?" Emily asked in terror.

"You have the right to remain silent!" the male officer shouted as he handcuffed her and the female officer handed Cinnamon to Raj.

"My baby!" he cried as he tightly hugged his yorkie. Cinnamon licked his face repeatedly.

Emily's terror soon transformed into rage.

"Koothrappali. Wolowitz. This is not the end and you and the rest of your friends will have a huge price to pay!" she roared as the cops dragged her out of the apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

**Reminder: Leonard never had a secret hookup with Mandy Chow here- enjoy readers!**

Leonard and Penny Hofstadter passionately kissed each other in their hotel room after an exciting day in Las Vegas. Leonard paused and looked at his wife's blue eyes.

"What a day today," he told her. Penny smiled at him.

"I know. That Siegfried and Roy show was amazing! I've never seen albino lions and tigers before!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, me neither. But the best part of this whole honeymoon is being with you."

Penny let out a huge smile.

"Aw, I love you so much Leonard Hofstadter." she responded.

"I love you too, Penny Hofstadter,"

As the newly wed couple resumed kissing, Leonard's phone rang. He grumbled with annoyance and ignored the call. The Hofstadters continued their make-out session.

His phone rang again.

"Who is it?" Penny asked.

Leonard looked down.

"It's Raj." he replied.

"What does he want?"

"I don't know..."

Leonard answered his phone.

"Hey Raj, what's up?" he asked.

Penny observed him as she struggled to understand Raj's voice. Leonard's eyes widened.

"Oh my God! What happened?" he shouted.

Penny inched closer to listen. The only words she managed to interpret were: "Emily", "arrested" and "knife".

"Do you know how long she's going to be in jail?" Leonard questioned.

"I have no idea-" Raj's garbled voice responded.

Though Penny could hardly understand Raj, but she could hear the fearful tone in his voice.

"Do you want us to come back?"

"No-" Raj's voice replied followed by garbled gibberish.

"Wow. She's really lost her mind. We'll be heading back soon and let us know and see you soon."

Leonard hung up and looked at Penny in shock.

"What happened to Raj?" she asked as she tightly grasped Leonard's hands.

"He broke up with Emily last night and that drove her beyond crazy. She sent him threatening texts and then she broke into his apartment and threatened Cinnamon with a knife." he explained. She loudly gasped.

"That bitch. I knew there was something not right about her."

Leonard nodded.

"I agree. I never thought that they were a good match in the first place. I didn't like how so obsessed she was with gory stuff."

"Me neither but I never imagined her literally threatening anyone,"

Leonard paused and gripped Penny's hand even tighter.

"Raj told me that she not only threatened him, but all of us. I think we should drive back home." he sternly stated.

"She's in jail, what's she going to do to us? And our honeymoon just started." Penny protested.

"Penny, this is serious. She might escape and harm us for all we know. I just really can't have fun with the thought of us being in danger by some crazy woman."

Penny let out a heavy sigh.

"Ok, you're right. We'll pack our bags and head back."

That night, the Hofstadter couple gathered their bags and checked out of the hotel to drive back to Pasadena. Leonard called Sheldon on his cell in speaker mode.

"Hey buddy, Penny and I are driving back and any word on Emily?"

"This soon? For the record, Emily's still in jail and she could be released as early as tomorrow." Sheldon's voice replied.

Leonard and Penny exchanged looks.

"Are you serious! Why?" Penny blurted out.

"I'm not exactly sure and it's absurd. But there is good news. The good news is that she is scheduled to have a restraining order against all of us, including you this week."

"Hopefully that'll work."

"It should. Howard told us that the police are strict on that policy and they take it seriously." Sheldon explained.

The Hofstadters fell silent.

"Well, that is good to hear," Leonard replied, not fully comforted by the news.

"Are you almost in Pasadena?" Sheldon demanded.

Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Sheldon, we're two hours away and we're trying to get back as fast as we can without killing ourselves!" he snapped.

"Don't get testy Leonard. Everyone, including the she-devil is at our apartment."

"Sheldon! That's not nice to call Amy that!" Penny retorted.

"Penny, does it occur to you how much Amy broke my heart. She is a selfish jezebel who tore me apart, like a deep laceration."

Anger rushed through Leonard's body.

"Do you know who is the real jezebel and she-devil? It's Emily! She threatened our lives and Amy, she just broke up with you and she is completely sane! You really need to straighten up your priorities!" he barked.

Leonard rolled his eyes.

"You know what, I'll call you later and I'll let you know when we get there!"

"Very well then. Goodbye Leonard." Sheldon snapped as they hung up.

Leonard and Penny sat in silence as she turned on the radio. A news story centering on a Canadian family rescuing a bear cub from their backyard pool blared on followed by a 93 year-old woman with dementia still missing from her nursing home. The couple listened in disinterest. Penny nodded off in the passenger seat as Leonard drove on, closely listened for the news about Emily.

After a long commercial break, the news returned. Leonard eagerly listened for the story about Emily's threats as the latest updates on a murder trial came on. He let out a frustrated sigh.

"And speaking on trials, a local dermatologist has been charged with assault and animal cruelty..."

Leonard jolted from his seat and gently shook Penny, who was sound asleep.

"27 year-old Emily Sweeney of Pasadena has been arrested for breaking into her ex boyfriend's apartment and allegedly threatened to kill his dog with a knife if the couple did not reconcile..."

Penny and Leonard anxiously listened on.

"Sweeney may be released from prison as soon as tomorrow afternoon and is scheduled to appear in court for a restraining order against her ex boyfriend and seven of their mutual friends this week..." the news anchor reported as she changed the subject to football scores.

"That's it?" Penny asked in disappointment.

Leonard nodded.

"Yeah, for now. Hopefully there will be more updates soon..." he replied as they crossed the California state line.


	5. Chapter 5

By the time the Hofstadters returned to Pasadena, only the bluish purple twilight lights illuminated the sky. They rushed up the stairs to reach apartment 4A. Leonard swung the door open to see Sheldon, Raj, the Wolowitzes, and Stuart all gathered by the TV. Cinnamon was sound asleep in Raj's lap. An Arby's commercial blared the apartment.

"Hey! We're back!" Leonard panted as he and his wife sat on the floor near the sofa.

"It's about time!" Sheldon whined, sitting upright in his spot.

"Come on Sheldon!" Howard snapped as he nudged Sheldon in the shoulder.

"Ow! Was that really necessary?"

Penny noticed that Amy was nowhere in sight.

"Where's Amy?" she asked.

"She stormed out of here about a couple of hours ago after Sheldon called her a jezebel and she devil when Leonard called him. She was in tears." Bernadette explained.

Leonard and Penny each gave Sheldon a dirty look.

"Did she make it home safely?" Leonard wondered out loud.

Bernadette nodded.

"How was the honeymoon?" Stuart interrupted.

"It was fun but very brief because of what happened to Raj and Emily." Leonard replied as the news came on.

Everyone fell silent and closely observed the TV screen for any updates. Baseball scores and the Pope's visit to America were profiled. Raj sat on the beige armchair, anxiously pacing and sweating. Another commercial break rolled. No one uttered a single word, still fixated on the TV. After a long series of commercials, the news finally came on. A middle aged anchorman sat in his seat and shuffled his papers.

"Updated information regarding a local dermatologist who was arrested earlier today for assault and animal cruelty has been released. Emily Sweeney is currently in custody after sending threatening texts to her ex-boyfriend and then broke into his apartment and threatened to kill his dog with a knife if the couple did not reconcile..."

Raj tightly gripped the arms of the chair as his heart pounded after seeing Emily's mugshot. Her long red hair was slightly matted and her green eyes were squinted with anger and hatred.

"That's unsettling. It's like she's staring right at my soul," Stuart whispered to himself.

"Sweeney is scheduled to be released from prison tomorrow afternoon and according to relatives, she has a history of mental illness and an obsession with the horror movie genre, particularly the 2003 exploitation horror film "A House of 1000 Corpses..."

Raj looked at Howard, remembering the time when they watched the film together in discomfort.

"A restraint order against Sweeney will be in effect sometime this week and she has just lost her dermatology license..."

The news then switched on a story about a successful charity walk. Everyone sat in their spots in silence.

"Wow." Leonard remarked, breaking the silence.

"Raj, do you know exactly when you're supposed to file that restraining order?" Sheldon blurted out.

Raj shrugged.

"Hopefully sometime tomorrow. I just can't deal with living in constant fear that she'll come out of jail and find a way to hurt me or one of you guys. In fact, Sheldon, Leonard, can you do me a favor?" he asked.

"Of course!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Can Cinnamon and I please stay at your apartment until the restraining order is settled. I'm just so- so afraid right now." Raj pleaded.

Sheldon squinted his piercing blue eyes.

"You may but the dog cannot. You know how much I despise dogs." he declared.

"Sheldon! Of course you can stay here, I don't mind if Cinnamon stays here at all!" Leonard shouted as he pet a still sleeping Cinnamon on the back.

"Very well then." Sheldon huffed.

Howard looked hurt.

"Why not my house?" he asked.

"You know, normally your place would be my first choice to stay, plus I've always liked your house! But, because Emily has been there several times, I think it would be best if I was at Sheldon and Leonard's place. She's only been there once. I hope you understand Howard."

"Yeah buddy, I got it." Howard replied, understanding his best friend's plight but still somewhat hurt.

Once the Wolowitzes and Stuart left, Raj drove back to his apartment in the dark of the night to gather some clothes and personal items and brought them back to apartment 4A. Sheldon and Leonard were both clad in their pajamas.

"Thanks so much guys!" Raj exclaimed.

"Anytime. You can have my bed, I'll be at Penny's tonight." Leonard kindly offered.

"Thanks again Leonard!" he replied, not exactly thrilled over the thought of spending the night with Sheldon alone.

"Night Raj, see you tomorrow!" Leonard shouted as he walked towards Penny's apartment.

Cinnamon jumped at her owner's knees and wagged her tail.

"Excuse me, your dog urinated right by my bed." Sheldon sternly told him.

"Give the poor thing a break! She had a knife held up to her throat earlier today!" Raj cried as he gently patted Cinnamon.

"And this why dogs are the worst- oh wait, women are."

Raj was fed up with Sheldon's new aversion towards women.

"You know what, Cinnamon and I are going to Penny's apartment now. Ever since Amy broke up with you, all you've been talking about is how awful women are and you don't even think of our safety!" he yelled as he walked towards the door.

"Very well then. I do not want that dog of yours urinating all over the apartment and I was going to expel you anyway!" Sheldon snapped as he slammed the door.

Raj hugged Cinnamon in his arms.

"It's okay baby," he coaxed as he knocked on Penny's door.

Penny opened the door, wearing a bright pink robe over her pajamas. Her hair was a mess.

"Hey Raj, what's up? I thought you were staying at Sheldon's." she yawned.

Raj sighed.

"Yeah, I was but Sheldon is an ass. He kicked us out after Cinnamon peed in Sheldon's room."

Penny rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that's Sheldon all right."

"Penny. Could you please let me stay at your place instead?" Raj pleaded.

Penny smiled.

"Of course! You can have the couch!" she kindly replied as she gestured him into her apartment.

He could see Leonard peeking out from Penny's room.

"Ok sweetie. Sleep tight and let me know if you need anything!" she exclaimed. She walked back into her room with Leonard.

Raj was restless on Penny's couch, with his mind swimming in all different directions. As he nodded off, someone gently tapped him on the left shoulder.

"Hello Rajesh..." a feminine voice purred.

He looked up and gasped. Emily was standing right before him, dressed in all black and clutching a knife.

"What are you doing here!? You should be in jail!" he screamed.

Emily sadistically laughed.

"I happened to escape and you know... trying to end your pathetic little life since you ruined my promised life!"

Raj screamed once more and leaped out of Penny's couch.

"Think you can get away from me, Koothrappali?" she jeered as she yanked him by the collar of his shirt.

"Emily! No! NO!" he cried as Emily began to impale her knife directly at his chest.

"Raj! Raj! RAJ!" Leonard's voice suddenly echoed.

Raj jolted awake and gasped. Cinnamon yelped in surprise. He loudly panted and looked around to see that he was safe in Penny's apartment. Leonard and Penny stood before him, looking at him with genuine concern.

"You okay sweetie?" Penny politely asked.

Raj wiped some sweat off of his forehead.

"Nothing. Just a very bad dream." he shakily replied.

"Oh, about Emily?" Leonard asked.

"Yeah. I just can't get over it."

"It'll be okay. You'll get the restraining order before you know it and it'll be fine. I promise!" Leonard coaxed.

Raj weakly smiled.

"Thanks guys."


	6. Chapter 6

As the golden lights of the sunrise shone apartment 4B, Raj finally fell asleep after a long restless night. Leonard and Penny were peacefully sleeping together in her bed. Cinnamon watched the early morning hours through the window. A blue jay flew towards the window and rested besides the exterior windowsill. She growled and loudly barked at the bird, who did not budge. Raj jolted awake, nearly falling of the bright teal sofa.

"Really Cinnamon! Daddy's so tired and needs some sleep!" he grumbled.

He groggily rose from the sofa and closed the blinds.

"Stay here while daddy, Penny, and Leonard sleep some more!" he stated as he slumped back onto the sofa and placed Cinnamon on his lap.

Raj struggled to fall back asleep. He picked up his phone and checked for any updates on Emily. Only the previous day's articles were shown. He let out a nervous sigh. He googled up to see how effective restraining orders were. Many of the websites stated that restraining orders were useless accompanied with horror stories and murders. Raj's heart began to race. He imagined all of the possible scenarios of what Emily could do to him and his friends.

"No." he muttered to himself as he pictured Emily murdering all of his friends before him. Tears began to leak out his eyes.

"Hey Raj. You okay?" Leonard asked him, tying the drawstring on his red robe. Penny quietly walked behind her husband.

Raj looked at him with sorrow.

"I don't think the restraining order will work. I looked up online and saw that they usually don't work. A lot of people have died because of it! I don't want it to happen to any of you-!"

Raj burst into tears.

"It's okay sweetie. We're here," Penny coaxed as she gently hugged him.

"No it's not! Emily is a nut case! When she was arrested at my place yesterday afternoon, she told me and Howard that this won't be the end and we would all have a big price to pay!"

Penny sighed.

"Don't worry about it. The police take it very seriously and you're only reading the extreme incidents! Most cases do not happen like that!" Penny told him.

Leonard looked at his wife.

"Maybe he is right. Now that I think of it, a restraining order is just a piece of paper. She's not locked up anywhere, is she? She's out and about and she could do whatever she wants!" he pointed out.

Penny sighed.

"Ok, I guess. But let's see what happens."

Right before he went to work, he changed his phone number and email address, and deactivated his Facebook page so Emily could not track him. He struggled to focus at work throughout the day. At lunch, he picked and nibbled on his barbecue pulled pork sandwich and corn, lost in thought. He could hear his friends speaking to one another but drowned out the words.

"Excuse me, could you please stop nitpicking your corn and listen to me!" Sheldon snapped, giving him an irritated look.

"Sheldon! Give him a break!" Leonard retorted.

"What were you guys talking about?" Raj asked his friends, completely unaware of what was said their conversation.

"We were discussing having a bachelor party for Leonard sometime this weekend and the girls are having their own bachelorette party, depending on how the whole Emily situation goes." Howard explained.

Raj looked at his friends with annoyance.

"A bachelor party? Really? During this stressful time, that doesn't even crack the top ten!" he cried.

"Buddy, trust me. The restraining order should work and my father-in-law says that the majority of them work just fine! I also said it all depends on what happens with Emily!" Howard shouted.

"But I-"

"Guys! The news!" Leonard interrupted as he pointed at the cafeteria TV. The local news was showing. The same anchorman faintly reported: "Former dermatologist Emily Sweeney has just been released from prison and is scheduled for a hearing next week..."

Raj gaped at the TV in horror.

"It's actually happened..." he mumbled to himself.

"Raj, cowering and mumbling to yourself won't accomplish anything." Sheldon robotically declared.

"You're such an ass Sheldon! Raj is going through a traumatic time in his life and this is how you treat him! Don't you realize that we're all in danger because of Emily? And that includes _..._ you!" Howard angrily yelled.

"And all you care about is your own troubles and Amy dumping you! I actually don't blame her!"

Sheldon glared at Howard.

"Excuse me..."

"Don't bother!" Raj cried as he along with Leonard and Howard moved to another table.

For the remainder of the day, Raj sat in his office, paralyzed in fear, wondering his fate. Loud sirens suddenly sounded from outside. Raj froze in his position, listening to the sirens. The door suddenly swung open and Howard charged towards him, panting fiercely.

"Buddy! I've been looking all over for you!" he screamed, as more sirens sounded.

"What's going on?" Raj asked, expecting horrific news.

"Kripke just got hit by a car in the parking lot!"

Raj's eyes widened in sheer terror.

"Oh no! Is he okay?"

"I... don't know. From what I heard from Mrs. Davis, it's pretty bad!" Howard panted.

Howard and Raj bolted out of the university and saw several police cars blocking the university. Many students and faculty looked on. A bright yellow ambulance was nearby and paramedics quickly placed a stretcher inside. Neither of them could see Kripke from their distance. Sheldon and Leonard stood by one of the police cars in disbelief and shock.

"I have no words for this." Sheldon told his friends.

Raj inched forward and saw some blood splotches smeared on the road and a small black satchel was wide open on the sidewalk with papers scattered all through the scene.

The four men gathered at apartment 4A and turned on the news. A young blonde anchorwoman reported the incident.

"A man has been injured in a hit-and-run incident at a parking lot in Caltech University this afternoon. The man, identified as 35 year-old Barry Kripke, a physicist at the university was walking to his car when an unidentified black Hummer struck him. He is currently in critical condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena..."

Raj gasped.

"Oh my God! Could that be the same Hummer that nearly hit me and Sheldon yesterday?" he realized out loud.

Sheldon glared at him.

"Maybe, but I must say that it is a coincidence. There are scores of black Hummers in Pasadena." he replied, still shaken.

"I don't know. But that sounds too weird to me." Howard added.

"Do you suppose Emily did it?" Raj blurted out.

The four men fell silent.

"Possibly. She's hunting us down and she probably... hang on! I remember Kripke was wearing a red jacket and khakis today... and the jacket kind of looked like Raj's!" Leonard exclaimed.

Raj's eyes widened.

"That very well may be. She probably thought it was me from afar and just ran him over!" he concluded.

"Do you think we should call the police?" Howard asked.

"Perhaps. But do you know the Hummer's license number?" Sheldon questioned.

"Uh... no..." Raj awkwardly replied.

"Then no. There's no proof!"

"But it's too weird!" Raj protested.

"Very well. If you do, the police will just scoff at you." Sheldon curtly responded.

Silence filled the air.

"Alright, but we still have to do something. Something to protect us from her wrath." Howard declared.


	7. Chapter 7

After another restless night at apartment 4B, Raj grabbed his phone and debated whether or not to contact the Pasadena Courthouse to file a restraining order. One side told him that it will ward Emily off while the other believed that it will only further endanger them.

Penny and Leonard walked out of her room, both with bed heads.

"Good morning sweetie," Penny sweetly told him.

"Morning Penny," Raj replied, half-grinning.

"You look like you're lost in thought." Penny observed.

Raj looked down at his phone and looked up at her.

"Yeah. I'm debating whether or not to file that restraining order."

Penny sighed.

"Look sweetie. You should do that as soon as possible."

"I don't know if I should! I think it'll only piss her off even more! Especially after what happened to Kripke yesterday!" he rebelled as he looked back down at his phone.

Leonard also fixated on his phone and his eyes suddenly widened in shock.

"Guys... I have some news here..." he shakily told them.

Raj felt a knot in his stomach.

"Kripke died earlier this morning..."

Raj gasped in horror.

"Oh no. What happened?" he asked, with a wave of emotion striking him.

Leonard sighed.

"The doctors simply said that his injuries were too severe and he was beyond help. I saw it on Facebook and the university sent us all an email about it..."

As Raj checked his work email, Howard texted him notifying him the tragic news.

"What have I done?" he muttered with guilt overpowering him.

"It's not your fault Raj. Nobody had any idea this madness would ever happen- you did the right thing." Leonard coaxed, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Raj sniffled, on the verge of tears.

"Yeah, I thought so too. But face it, if I decided to not break up with her at the cemetery the other night, none of this would have happened. None of us would be in danger and living in fear and... Kripke would still be alive..."

On the drive to Caltech, Leonard, Raj, and Sheldon all sat in Leonard's car in silence. When they passed the site of the incident in the parking lot, bouquets of assorted colored flowers, two small lit memorial candles, and a small white teddy bear were placed in a parking spot.

Raj's heart sank. Sheldon looked at it with sorrow.

"For as much as I despised that man, he never deserved such a cruel death..." he quietly remarked, breaking the silence.

The campus was quiet throughout the day, beginning with a moment of silence requested by President Siebert. Sheldon was among the faculty who was responsible for clearing Kripke's office, sadly glancing at his former arch nemesis' belongings. Raj and his friends sat in their usual table, slowly eating their meals.

"I can't take this anymore! We have to stop Emily from killing any of us!" Raj suddenly blurted out.

"Yeah buddy, I could not agree more with you." Howard replied.

"But how?"

The four friends paused and looked at each other.

"Maybe... remember when we made that elaborate security system with the net at our apartment?" Leonard suggested.

"Yes. I do recall when that net trapped me, as you and Penny looked on." Sheldon retorted.

"Well, we can update it so it doesn't just trap anyone who walks in the apartment. And it'll recognize Emily, complete with an alarms " Raj added.

Howard nodded.

"Sounds like a plan to me." he replied.

Once work was finally over, Sheldon scrummaged throughout his apartment, looking for the blue prints for his old security system.

"I can't find it anywhere!" he yelled in frustration.

"Maybe it's at my place or at Raj's..." Howard responded, shuffling the shelves behind the sofa.

"We can't go to my place! Emily is probably lurking there, waiting to kill me." Raj shakily stated.

"Then what are we going to do? It's clearly not anywhere in here!" Leonard snapped.

"How about at my place?" Howard recommended.

Raj paused.

"Sure. But be very careful!"

The four friends cautiously walked into Leonard's car and drove into the busy evening of Pasadena, closely looking out for a black Hummer.

When they reached to the Wolowitz household, they all sighed in relief.

"Thank God," Leonard remarked.

Bernadette sat on the sofa, with a worried and angry look etched on her face.

"Howie, where were you?" Bernadette demanded.

"Honey, I was at Sheldon's looking for something," Howard stammered.

"Looking for what?"

"Well, when Sheldon's apartment was robbed years ago, we built a security system with a net and alarms. We're looking for the blue prints of it!" Raj explained.

"We're only doing this to save ourselves from Emily!" Howard shouted as he and his friends bolted upstairs into his room.

The friends frantically searched throughout Howard's room. Suddenly, Raj paused when he was looking into Howard's cluttered closet.

"Howard. Is this it?" he asked as he handed a half ripped blue print.

Howard closely analyzed it.

"One net. Three alarms... buddy, you found it!" Howard exclaimed.

"Brilliant job Raj. Now it's time to clean this mess up." Sheldon announced.

Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Sheldon! We don't have time for this! Plus, I will take care of it! I can take care of himself..." Howard snapped.

Sheldon paced back and forth, obsessing over Howard's messy room.

They raced down the stairs with the aging blue prints.

"Bernie! We found it!"

Bernadette grinned.

"Good. Are you sure this will work against Emily? I do recall that it trapped Sheldon-"

"No need to remind me Bernadette. And I was forced to go to Bozeman after that."

"I would think so. What we are planning is to update it and program pictures of Emily into it so it'll only know to trap her and no one else." Leonard explained.

Bernadette was still not convinced by their plan.

"I think Raj should still sign that restraining order." she said.

"I don't think it'll work. This plan will be a thousand times better than a piece of paper alone." Raj replied.

"I disagree..."

"You told us this! It won't be effective, especially after what happened to Kripke! Now that she's supposedly killed the wrong man, she's probably even more blood thirsty than ever!" Howard shouted at his wife.

"If you say so..." Bernadette sighed in frustration.


	8. Chapter 8

Throughout the long difficult night, the four friends vigorously analyzed Sheldon's old blue prints.

"Do we have the old net?" Howard asked, scanning Leonard's closet.

"I don't think so. I think Sheldon threw that out a long time ago..." Leonard replied, while looking under his bed.

"Do we at least have sirens or the facial recognition software?" Raj's voice asked from the living area.

"No idea!" Leonard replied.

Sheldon let out an agitated sigh.

"Well gentlemen, looks like we have to get a whole new supply."

The door suddenly knocked.

"Oh God!" Raj cried as he hid in Sheldon's room.

"Stay back..." Howard whispered as he and Sheldon backed into the kitchen.

"It's me!" Penny's muffled voice bellowed from behind the door.

Raj sighed with relief and walked back into the living area. Leonard slowly opened the door.

"Hi honey! What's going on?" Penny questioned.

"Oh- do you remember that security system we created when our apartment was robbed a while ago?"

Penny paused.

"Oh yeah! I totally do, when Sheldon trapped himself with the net?" she shouted as she burst into laughter.

Sheldon gave her a dirty look.

"Penny, was that really necessary? Why does everyone mention that?!" he snapped.

"That's because it happened to you! Please let it go Sheldon! So yeah, we're making an updated version of it to defend ourselves from Emily!" Leonard proudly explained to his wife.

"You know what- we should make two of them! One for here and the other at Penny's, since that's where I'm staying!" Raj suggested.

Howard smiled.

"You know, that does sound like a great idea buddy!"

"But- that'll take even longer!" Sheldon complained.

"I don't care. I want each and everyone of us to be safe and unharmed by Emily. I just can't bear the thought of losing any of you!" Raj confidently announced.

"Are we in this together, C-Men?"

The others looked at each other.

"Yes!" Howard shouted.

"Me too!" Leonard echoed.

"Me three!" Penny chimed.

Sheldon sat in his spot, looking at his friends.

"Sheldon...?" Raj scolded.

Sheldon paused and sighed.

"Very well then. I'll join." he hesitantly replied.

The next morning, the friends gathered the old blue prints to bring to work. Howard secretly created two copies of a new facial recognition software and placed various photos of Emily from her Facebook page into the program and took several motion detectors. Raj barely focused on his research paper and placed batteries in some unused alarms that he found in the storage room in an abandoned lab. Leonard took some unused lasers in the back of his lab and Sheldon still reminisced the time when he trapped himself with his own security system in his office as he half-searched for nets.

Once work was over, the friends gathered their respective items to apartment 4A.

"Did you get the nets Sheldon?" Raj asked.

Sheldon paused.

"I'm sorry. I could not find them."

Leonard's face reddened.

"Are you serious? I'm sure Caltech has a net or two- maybe in the marine lab?!"

A knock sounded and the men paused.

"Stay put..." Leonard whispered as he crept towards the door.

Penny stood by the entrance, clutching a large paper bag.

"Hey! What's this?" Leonard asked, pointing at the bag.

Penny grinned.

"Look what I got!"

She pulled out two large fishing nets out of the bag.

"Penny! You're a life saver!" Howard exclaimed.

"How did you know and where did you get them?" Raj questioned.

"Oh, Sheldon texted me and asked me to do because he was uncomfortable stealing fishing nets and I bought them at The Great Outdoors."

"Now that we got all of the ingredients, time to work! Chop chop!" Sheldon commanded.

The five friends teamed up and began to construct their new security system. Raj did not remotely feel tired since he was so focused on the security system and defending himself and his friends from Emily's clutches.

As they worked, the 11 PM news turned on. The younger blonde anchorwoman reappeared.

"Breaking news. An abandoned black Hummer was discovered by hikers deep into Angeles National Forest. The car has a large dent in the front and large traces of blood were stained on the dent..."

The friends all fell silent.

"Oh God..." Raj gasped, frozen in his position, tightly clutching a screw driver.

"Authorities suspect that this is also the Hummer that fatally struck Caltech physicist Barry Kripke yesterday in a campus parking lot. A DNA test is scheduled for tomorrow..."

"I knew it!" Raj screamed.

Sheldon looked at the TV.

"What are we waiting for?!" he demanded as the group proceeded to create the systems.

"We're trying our best!" Penny shouted.

"We all are!" Howard added.

Hours had passed before they finally completed it. Leonard looked at his watch and it read: 3:35 AM.

"Wow, it's really has been that long?" he yawned.

Sheldon stared at Howard, who was half-asleep on the sofa and shook him.

"Get out of my spot!" he ordered as Howard jerked out of the sofa.

"Sorry! I'm exhausted out of my mind!" he groggily replied.

They all proudly looked at their two sets of security systems.

"Well, since they're done, should we test them out C-Men!?" Leonard suggested.

"Yes!" the others yelled in unison.


	9. Chapter 9

The five friends looked at the new security system that they created. Leonard clutched his chin.

"Looking good so far. So, who wants to go first?"

"Not me!" Sheldon shouted as he sat back on his spot.

The others paused and looked at one another.

"I'll go first," Howard volunteered as he left the apartment and closed the door.

"You can come in now!" Leonard shouted to Howard.

Seconds later, Howard slowly crept back into the apartment, with a slightly nervous look etched on his face. Raj anxiously looked on as the sensor pointed at Howard.

He then stopped in his tracks and watched the security system. It moved at a tortoise's pace as it scanned Howard. He slowly stepped towards his friends and noticed that the security system did not trap him.

The others cheered him on as he let out a sigh of relief.

"Nice job dude!" Raj exclaimed with happiness.

"Thank you very much. Now what about your stunning bride, Leonard? We need to see if it reacts to women..." Howard declared as he gestured Penny towards the door.

Penny walked out for a few seconds until Leonard called her back in.

She slowly crept back, trying her best to mimic Howard's actions.

"Come on Penny, you can do it!" Leonard encouraged.

She nervously paused and glanced up at the sensor. It looked right back at Penny, closely analyzing her. She gulped and leaped away as the system did not react at all.

"Yes! This is a major success!" Raj cried as he and Leonard tightly hugged Penny.

Howard grinned to himself.

"Now there is one more test-"

Sheldon's blue eyes widened in terror.

"Oh dear Lord! Don't use me as a guinea pig!" he screamed.

"No, we're not going to use you Sheldon! Anyway, I found this and put a picture of Emily on it and please don't tell Bernie!" Howard gulped as he pulled out a dusty blow-up doll with a picture of Emily's face glued onto it.

"I thought you pitched those years ago!" Raj cried.

"Yeah I thought. I found one deflated and buried into my closet. Thank God no one has seen it! Anyway, let's see of it recognizes Emily at all..."

Howard held it by the sides and slowly walked towards the sensor. The second it scanned the blow-up doll, loud sirens sounded and the net dropped right onto the doll as Howard quickly tumbled backwards, barely missing the net.

The others cheered.

"Oh my God. I can't believe it works! It's a 4:30 AM miracle!" Leonard cried as he and the others except for Sheldon hugged each another.

This was the happiest Raj ever felt since his ill-fated decision to break up with Emily.

"Let's try the other one!" he exclaimed as he and the others ran to apartment 4B.

The second system was deemed successful as well. The five friends sat together on Penny's teal sofa with happiness.

"I can't believe we did it!" Raj happily yelled.

"Me neither!" Leonard added.

Howard glared at the Emily doll and smirked.

"Well gentleman and lady, time to deflate this thing up..." he whispered as he popped the doll with a steak knife. He and the others watched it quickly deflate.

"So much better than a restraining order!" Raj yelled with joy.

"Ahem. Now that we've all concluded that this will be a better alternative than a restraining order, how are we going to catch Emily?" Sheldon questioned.

The joy instantly faded away.

"Nice job killjoy!" Penny shouted with annoyance.

"Penny, he's got a point, A really good one!" Raj corrected.

"Why thank you Raj." Sheldon replied with relief.

The friends all sat on the sofa and deeply thought of ways to lure Emily into apartment 4A or 4B.

"I got it!" Raj suddenly blurted out.

"Ok, what is it?" Leonard wondered.

Raj looked at each of his friends and sighed.

"This may sound kind of radical but funeral arrangements for Kripke will be online very soon and I thought we would all go there-"

Sheldon cut Raj off and a look of anger emerged on his face.

"Why on Earth would I ever want to attend the funeral of my mortal enemy?"

"Shut up Sheldon! We weren't planning to go there because of this whole Emily situation- why are you bringing this up?" Howard asked in confusion.

"Well, since Kripke's obituary will be posted online and most likely, she'll know that we'll go there and she'll follow us and you know..." Raj further explained, not bearing to say the word 'kill'.

"Emily knows that we work at Caltech and has obviously been on campus! And once the funeral's over, we'll drive back here and sit there until Emily comes after us and knocks on the door. One of us, probably Leonard or Sheldon will answer it and somehow... push her in and bam! We catch her and all of this will be over! Sound like a plan?"

The others hesitated and thought about it.

"Raj! Are you insane?! That's screaming suicide!" Leonard screamed.

"But he's got a point. How else are we going to get her arrested and end this madness for once and all?" Howard observed.

Raj nodded with approval.

"But Raj, we don't know when it'll take place and, what if it becomes a funeral massacre?" Penny nervously asked.

"I don't think Emily will do that. She won't do it in a crowded area, she'll probably try to do it in a parking lot with not many people nearby or in a private place, like at my apartment. Also, when Kripke got run over, only one other person witnessed it." Raj stated.

"I guess you're right. But I'm still scared to do it." Howard told him.

Raj looked at him directly in the eyes.

"Believe it or not dude, I am too. But I think it will be the only way for this to work without a useless restraining order."

The others slumped deeper into the teal sofa.

"If you say so Raj.." Leonard replied with unease.

Penny rose from her spot and went back into her room.

"What are you doing?" Howard bellowed.

Soon after Penny returned to the men, clutching a baseball bat.

"If your plan does not work out Raj, I think this will take care of Emily and I think you should all each grab one." Penny suggested as she patted the bat.


	10. Chapter 10

After their intense hard-working night, the five friends slept for a mere hour before each had to return to their jobs. The men groggily drove to Caltech as Leonard downed a steaming cup of coffee. They all tried their best not to fall asleep at work as they drank more caffeinated beverages.

At lunch, Raj, Leonard, and Sheldon all met at their usual table, still struggling to maintain their energy.

"I can't stay awake," Raj grumbled as he downed his fourth cup of coffee.

"Tell me about it." Leonard replied, checking his phone.

Sheldon, still not used to consuming large amounts of caffeine, was energized after drinking three cups of herbal tea.

"Gentlemen. Look what I found," he told his friends in a bored and almost apathetic fashion. Raj and Leonard peered at Sheldon's phone to see Kripke's lengthy obituary.

They all closely read it for every detail.

"You got to be kidding me! It's two days from now! I don't know if I can wait for that long!" Leonard shouted, regaining some energy.

"Me neither!" Raj nervously responded, rereading the obituary.

The three friends all looked up and noticed that Howard was no where in sight.

"Where's Howard?" Leonard frantically asked.

"I don't know! He should have been here a half hour ago!" Raj cried in sheer panic.

Sheldon rolled his eyes.

"Do not panic. I'm sure-"

"Sheldon! Have you learned by now that Emily out to kill us and she's possibly got Howard!" Raj screamed at him, nearly in tears.

"Raj, it's ok! Look!" Leonard exclaimed as he pointed at Howard, who slowly walked towards them with an exhausted and defeated look on his face.

"Thank God! Where were you?" Raj cried in relief.

Howard looked at his friends and sighed.

"Bernadette and I had a huge fight on the phone and... she filed the restraining order..."

Raj gasped in horror.

"You're kidding me!" Leonard yelled in shock.

"No I'm not. She was furious at me and ranted on and on about how useless our plan was and she called her father last night and she did it first thing this morning." Howard explained.

"She also got in a nasty fight with Penny at work because she was involved with our plan and Penny disagreed with opinion about the restraining order." he added.

The four friends looked at each other in silence.

"We're doomed. We're all doomed. Bernadette just doesn't understand how deranged Emily is. As soon as she was released from jail, she literally killed someone and is still lurking around Pasadena, trying to hunt us all down. I haven't been in my own apartment for five days now!" Raj cried, tightly gripping on his tray.

"I know but it makes sense. My father-in-law is a retired police officer and he is an expert on restraining orders. Bernadette, as a police officer's daughter, believes in what he does. But what she doesn't understand is that restraining orders don't always work. Think about it, a restraining order is nothing more than just a piece of paper. No weapons at all, right? Emily is probably fuming right now at us and creating several murder plots." Howard stated.

"Yeah, the only thing we can do at this point is to be ultra careful and do not, under any circumstances, go anywhere outside of work. But we do have to buy some baseball bats like Penny suggested today." Leonard declared.

Right after work, the friends stopped at a Sports Authority and purchased a baseball bat for each one of them before returning to their respective homes. Raj slumped onto Penny's teal sofa in exhaustion. Cinnamon lay next to him and kissed him on the nose.

"Thanks Cinnamon, but you have no idea how tired daddy is..." Raj yawned. He took a quick power nap and fed Cinnamon.

As he poured the dog kibble, the news blared on. The anchorwoman awkwardly shuffled her papers and looked directly at the camera.

"Breaking news. The DNA of the blood found on the abandoned Hummer found in Angeles National Forest yesterday has been perfectly matched with Barry Kripke, a Caltech physicist who was fatally struck by it in a hit-and-run incident on Monday. A manhunt for the Hummer's driver has been issued..."

Raj nearly overfilled Cinnamon's bowl.

"Leonard! Penny!" he cried as he shook them awake.

"What is it? We're trying to get some sleep here!" Penny whined.

"This is urgent! On the news, they said the blood found on the Black Hummer perfectly matches with Kripke's!" he yelled.

Leonard and Penny looked at each other.

"Really?" Leonard replied.

"Really! Look at my phone!"

Raj handed Leonard his phone with an article of the latest development of the case. Leonard tipped his glasses and read the article. Penny read along, tightly holding Leonard's arm.

"Oh my God! Now there's going to be a manhunt for Emily! Do you think they'll find her?" Penny asked.

"I hope so darling. I really hope so but you'll never know with these situations." Leonard shakily replied, holding his wife's hand.

Raj received a text from Howard regarding the news.

"What do we do now?"

Raj paused and looked around at his surroundings.

"Like Leonard said. Do not go anywhere but work and be cautious. Bring your bats, wherever you go..." he explained.

Penny darted towards her closet.

"Penny! What are you doing?" Leonard questioned.

She did not respond and she shuffled through her messy closet, clearly searching for something. After a few minutes, Penny finally picked up something and stopped searching through her closet.

"I found these. And I think you should have them too," she said as she held out three cans of pepper spray.

Leonard grinned.

"Good one!"

"Thanks!" Penny shouted back.

She handed a pepper spray can to Raj and Leonard.

"Always carry these along with your bats."

"Sounds like a plan Penny." Raj replied, gripping the can.

The friends went to bed much earlier than usual due to their exhaustion from the night before. Raj gently pet Cinnamon as he nodded off.

His dreamless sleep was interrupted when someone shook his right shoulder.

"Raj! Raj! Wake up!" Leonard's voice shouted.

Raj woke up to see Leonard and Penny standing before him with terrified looks on their faces.

"What's going on?" he yawned.

Penny looked at Leonard, holding his hand.

"It's... about... Amy..." she shakily replied.

Raj gasped.

"Oh no! What happened?"

"All we know is that she got attacked by some stranger outside her apartment!" Leonard panted, grabbing his inhaler.


	11. Chapter 11

Raj's heart began to pound furiously.

"How so?" he shakily asked.

"I don't know, but she's at Huntington Hospital right now..." Penny replied, tightly gripping Leonard's hand.

Loud knocking suddenly sounded.

"PENNY! PENNY! PENNY!" Sheldon's voice frantically screamed from outside.

She quickly walked towards her door and let Sheldon in. A look of rage was etched on his reddened face.

"How dare that sadistic demon attack Amy! My Amy!" he screamed as his blue eyes squinted.

"He or she shall now be my number one mortal enemy! I hate him or her more than anyone else on my mortal enemy list!" he further shouted.

The others stood in shock. None of them had ever seen Sheldon this angry.

"Buddy, calm down. I'm sure Amy will be fine," Leonard nervously coaxed.

This only further angered Sheldon.

"Leonard, how can you assume that she is fine!? Let's go to the hospital, NOW!" he roared.

The four friends frantically bolted into Leonard's car and sped towards the hospital.

"You aren't going fast enough!" Sheldon barked, pacing back and forth in his seat.

"I'm trying my best! I'm ten over the speed limit" Leonard bellowed.

The drive seemed an eternity to them, especially Sheldon. They finally parked their car at the crowded hospital parking lot. Sheldon immediately swung his door open and bolted towards the entrance.

"Wait for us!" Raj yelled.

Sheldon did not hesitate or respond to Raj.

"I think we better catch up with him," Penny advised.

The three friends tried to catch up with Sheldon, who was already inside the building.

The lobby was nearly empty in the middle of the night. The door sounded and Stuart and the Wolowitzes arrived.

"Any word on Amy?" Stuart asked.

"I don't know. We literally just got here," Penny replied.

Bernadette hung her head towards the floor.

"It's all my fault. You were right to begin with. Amy wouldn't been injured if..."

"Honey. It's not your fault. No one anticipated on something like this. All you wanted to do was to protect us." Howard coaxed as he gently kissed his wife.

Bernadette was not fully comforted by her husband's words.

Sheldon charged towards the front desk.

"How may I help you?" asked the exhausted middle aged receptionist.

"What is Amy Farrah Fowler's condition?" he demanded.

"That I do not know but what I do know is that she is in room 364..."

"Where is that?" Sheldon snapped, not satisfied with her response.

"That is on the third floor, she's probably fine since she's in ward C. That's not in the ER or in the ICU..."

The others sighed with relief.

"I'll call the doctor for you!" she exclaimed as she picked up her bulky phone.

"Thank God." Bernadette sighed.

The friends impatiently sat in the waiting room. An hour had passed and still no sign of a doctor.

"In what universe is taking them so long? This is inexcusable in my book." Sheldon spat out.

"It's the ER. They always take forever," Leonard sighed, looking down at his phone.

Before Sheldon could respond, the door finally opened and an elderly doctor appeared.

"Are you here for Amy Fowler?" he asked.

"Yes!" the friends said in unison.

"How is she? Tell me now!" Sheldon barked.

"Well, I do have some good news. She is in very good condition. She suffered a minor concussion and appears to have knife wounds on her arms." he replied.

Sheldon let out a huge smile of relief.

"She is expected to be released tomorrow night or Sunday morning."

"Can I please see her?" Sheldon begged.

The doctor glanced at his watch.

"You cannot. Visiting hours just ended. Wait till 7 AM."

Sheldon's face reddened.

"I don't care and I can't wait till then! I must see her now!" he screamed as he ran into the hallway.

"Please. The hours just ended ten minutes ago. It'll be short, we promise." Leonard pleaded.

The doctor looked at the others and sighed.

"Very well then. He seems to love and care for her. This will be the only exception." he quietly said as he let the others into the hallway.

They wandered through the maze-like hallways, searching for Sheldon and room 364. After two elevator rides, they finally reached room 364. Sheldon had just walked in.

Amy laid on her bed with a large bag on ice placed on her head, along with a sling on her right arm. The other arm was covered with bloody lacerations. She looked directly at her ex-boyfriend.

"Sheldon? What are you doing here?" she asked in puzzlement.

"I came to see you. I heard about your attack and I'm giving you this..." he replied as he handed her a small cup of steaming herbal tea.

Amy weakly smiled.

"Thank you Sheldon. You didn't have to do that!"

"I did. When I heard the news, I just could not control myself and you do know that I still care about you, even though I'm still mad at you for breaking up with me."

Amy sighed.

"Last week, you acted very selfishly and immaturely. It was our fifth anniversary and all you cared was your _Doctor Who_ show." she explained.

"I know. That was very juvenile of me and I must admit, I really do miss you..." he replied as he slowly hugged his former girlfriend.

The others peeked in and smiled.

"Oh Shamy!" Penny whispered.

Amy grinned as he let go of her.

"Thanks Sheldon. I appreciate it. But we're still not together-"

"Are we still broken up?" Sheldon asked.

"Yes but thanks to your noble gesture and caring for me, I'll think about it and we're on break now..."

Sheldon's smile faded away.

"Very well then. I understand." he stated in disappointment.

Amy slowly sipped her hot tea and struggled to balance the huge ice bag on her head with her other hand.

"It's delicious Sheldon."

"Thank you."

"Amy, do you know who attacked you?" he suddenly asked.

Amy paused and deeply thought about it.

"Well... I don't recall most of it but what I do remember was when I returned from work, this stranger dressed in black approached me with a knife and tried to attack me. She sounded like Emily, Raj's ex."

The others gasped from outside.

"Was it her?" Sheldon questioned.

"I don't know for sure. She had short, darker hair and she somehow hit me in the head. That's all I can remember."


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning was a bright sunny cloudless day in Pasadena during a grim occasion. The friends dressed in mostly black clothes for Barry Kripke's upcoming funeral. It was also the day they planned on luring Emily into their traps, to end the madness for once and all. Raj nervously straightened his black tie, with Emily in his mind.

"For God's sake Sheldon! Let it go! He may have not been the greatest guy, but he died a tragic and preventable death! I don't care if he was one of your mortal enemies. After all, he did attend Howard's bachelor party and that gathering you had a while back with Zack and Stuart." Leonard's voice replied with annoyance.

"Yes, while that is true but he sang the worst version of "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" I have ever heard and not to mention he humiliated me on NPR radio!" Sheldon snapped with an irritated look on his face.

Raj let out a loud laugh.

"Dude, that was so funny!" he exclaimed in laughter.

"No it was not!" Sheldon whined.

Raj's laughter soon faded away and he slowly tied the laces of his black dress shoes.

"You okay Raj?" Penny asked him as she touched up her makeup.

"Yeah- but it's just, I'm still upset over everything..."

"Don't worry sweetie. We got it covered with those traps and our bats and mace."

The group nervously drove to the funeral home, armed with their baseball bats and pepper spray cans.

"Promise me that you will be on your best behavior? Please do not say anything bad about him at all, especially in front of his family!" Leonard sternly told Sheldon.

"I promise." Sheldon huffed with annoyance as they reached into the crowded funeral home parking lot.

"Wow. It's mobbed. Isn't this the same place where Professor Proton's funeral was?" Penny asked.

"Yep. I remember- You got to be kidding me! There's already a line outside the building!" Leonard yelled, pointing at the long line in front of the funeral home.

"Was Professor Proton's this crowded?" Sheldon wondered, feeling slightly guilty that he did not attend his childhood idol's funeral.

"Actually... no, it wasn't. This is much more crowded." Leonard replied.

When they eventually found a parking spot, the met up with the Wolowitzes and Stuart and stood in the line. It seemed to move at a snail's pace. Raj recognized many faculty and students from Caltech. Raj felt terrified, being at a funeral and the thought of Emily coming to kill him and his friends. As they finally reached inside, Howard nudged Raj.

"Oh my God! Look who it is!" he whispered.

They turned to see Leslie Winkle, who had gained at least 15 pounds, teary-eyed and with a man who was about as wide as a refrigerator. Sheldon turned away and tried to hide from her.

"Wow, she's... changed." Leonard awkwardly remarked.

Raj could not care less since Emily was on his mind. He stared at his small can of pepper spray to ease his anxiety. When they moved deeper inside, they saw various floral arrangements and posters with pictures of Kripke throughout his life. Sheldon looked at them with discomfort.

"Oh dear Lord...I don't think I can take this anymore." he muttered to himself, with Kripke and Leslie plaguing his mind.

Raj gasped when he saw Kripke's closed navy blue casket from afar. It was surrounded by flowers, with a white lily and rose spray on top of it, and a large framed photo of Kripke was next to it. A large blow hit Raj's stomach. At that moment, he realized that Barry Kripke was truly gone. He began to feel teary-eyed as the wave of guilt struck him once more. He now hated Emily with all of his heart, after seeing the devastated Kripke family.

The friends, including Sheldon shook the family's hands and expressed their condolences. The funeral service started not too long after and everyone sat down in aging brown wooden chairs.

"Nice job Sheldon." Leonard whispered, praising Sheldon's good behavior. The service began with a middle-aged pastor with salt-and-pepper hair thanking everyone who attended. Several eulogies were spoken, including President Siebert and Jennifer, Kripke's younger sister who was about Penny's age and had the same speech impediment as her brother. The service seemed like an endless blur to Raj. All he could think of was Emily and how they were going to lure her into their trap. He pictured her sadistically smiling and clutching a steak knife. He grabbed his can of pepper spray from out of his pocket.

Howard looked at him with concern.

"You okay buddy? Emily's not here," he whispered.

Raj snapped out of his paranoia as Jennifer finished her eulogy. She burst into tears and hugged her husband and her two preschool-aged sons. Both boys were fixated on their iPads, oblivious to their surroundings. He looked at his friends. Sheldon sat upright and unbroken. Penny and Bernadette were both teary-eyed and leaning onto their husbands' shoulders. Leonard and Howard looked on piteously. Stuart seemed to be distracted and looked around the funeral home.

Raj too began to cry and never expected to mourn someone who frequently bullied and humiliated one of his best friends. He knew deep down that Kripke never deserved such a horrific and premature death and still felt the remorse. He could not stop thinking of Kripke's grieving family. They lost a son, a brother, and an uncle. At the moment, he wished that he had never followed his instincts to end his relationship with Emily at the graveyard just one week prior. Amidst his tears, he looked over his shoulders to look for Emily. Behind him, he eyed Leslie sobbing as the overweight man placed his arm around her. He quickly looked away and continued to search for the red-haired dermatologist. She was nowhere to be seen.

He let out a weak sigh of relief and looked back at the casket. The pastor was speaking again. Raj could hear him talking but could not make out what exactly he was saying. The service finally ended with Sarah McLachlan's "I Will Remember You." Horror rushed through Raj, knowing that he would soon have to face Emily. Everyone rose from their spots, chatting or crying.

"Stay together everyone..." Leonard whispered as the others followed him to the crowded parking lot.


	13. Chapter 13

The seven friends struggled to reach their cars in the crowded parking lot and searched for Emily at the same time. Raj quickly jumped into Leonard's car, immediately grabbing his baseball bat and quivering.

"Do you see her?" Penny asked as Leonard began to back up from their spot.

Leonard scanned the area, only to see dozens of cars leaving the lot and a black hearse in front of the funeral home.

"Nope." he shakily replied as he called Howard on his cell in speaker mode.

"Hey! Do you see Emily? We can't." Leonard asked him through the phone.

"No- but we're all fine. We got our bats and mace all ready to go," Howard's voice replied.

"Good and so are we." Leonard responded, waiting in the long line of cars.

Raj paced back and forth, tuning out Leonard and Howard's conversation. As they neared the exit, Raj gasped in horror. He saw a tall, slender woman facing away from him and wearing a strapless black dress and a humongous black derby hat. A large tattoo of Sally from _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ was branded on her left shoulder.

"Oh no! We got to get out of here- now! Emily is here!" Raj screamed, grabbing the edge of Leonard's seat and pointing at her. She sat into an older, battered white Subaru.

The others looked on in shock.

"Oh my God! You were right Raj! She was there the whole time!" Leonard shouted in realization.

"We see her too! Hopefully we'll get to your place before she does if this line moves any faster!" Howard's voice bellowed in a panicked tone.

Leonard's car finally left the parking lot and sped away from the funeral traffic on a side street.

"Where are you going?" Penny asked.

"A shortcut! Howard! Follow us!" Leonard commanded as Howard's car joined his. The two cars frantically sped in the small subdivision street with curious residents looking on. Penny typed in her address on the GPS.

Raj looked back, only to see Howard's car trail behind them.

"We don't see Emily anywhere!" Bernadette's voice called.

"Good!" Leonard panted as he made a sharp turn on Euclid Avenue.

"Oh God! Not Euclid Avenue!" Sheldon screamed in terror, covering his eyes.

After an intense, speedy ride the group frantically rushed into the apartment complex. As Penny unlocked the door with her keys, Raj suddenly yelled:

"Oh no! She found us!"

The group spotted the Subaru nearing them.

They quickly dashed up the stairs to reach to apartments 4A and 4B before Emily could find them.

"Ok! We gotta split up! Leonard, Stuart, Raj! Come with me. Howard, Bernadette, Penny, go to Penny's." Sheldon commanded as they split into their respective apartments.

The four men walked into apartment 4A.

"Here's the plan. Sheldon and I will stay out here, pretending we're just watching TV and I will answer the door. Raj, Stuart, stay in my room and call the cops." Leonard declared.

Raj nervously walked with Stuart into Leonard's room and hid under his bed.

Leonard and Sheldon awkwardly sat down on the sofa and watched old _Star Trek_ reruns, waiting for Emily's arrival.

Approximately five minutes later, a loud knock sounded.

"Rajesh! I know you and your little friends are here!" Emily's voice warned from outside. Raj's blood drained from his face.

Emily aggressively knocked once more. Leonard gulped and slowly rose from his spot. His heart began to race as he shakily opened the door to see Emily, dressed in all black, looking furious. Her once flowing red hair was now dyed black and cropped up to the middle of her neck.

"Hi Emily. What are you doing here?" Leonard stuttered.

"No time for your games Hofstadter. Where is he?" she screamed.

Leonard nervously laughed.

"Who? Sheldon? He's on the sofa, say hi!" he lied as Sheldon awkwardly waved.

This only angered Emily.

"Liar. Now where is Rajesh Koothrappali?" Emily hissed.

"I think he's at his place. We all went to Barry Kripke's funeral-"

Before he Leonard could complete his lie, Emily violently slapped him across the face, nearly knocking him down onto the wooden floor.

"I swear to God! He's not here!" Leonard frantically pleaded.

Emily laughed.

"You know Leonard Hofstadter, you are just plain terrible at this lying game. Now. Answer. The. Question. Where is Koothrappali? I saw him with you and the others!" she shrieked, inching directly towards his face with their noses nearly touching. He could feel her hot breath and saliva drops splash on his face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! You're mistaken! It was a neighbor who came with us! Right Sheldon?"

"Right. He lives right above us in apartment 5B." Sheldon replied in discomfort.

Emily's green eyes squinted.

"Very well then Hofstadter. Since you won't cooperate with me- I will take care of you with this!" she declared as she snatched Leonard by the hair and held her knife at his throat.

"L-let go of me! This is a m-mistake! Please! S-Sheldon! Do something!" he gasped.

Emily smirked and inched the knife closer to his throat. Sheldon looked on in shock.

"Oh Rajesh! I know you're here and I got your pathetic little friend Leonard! If you don't show yourself, I will slit his throat and then the rest of your friends! I'm pretty sure that you don't want to see that! " she evilly jeered as she dragged Leonard into the apartment.

Seconds later, loud sirens sounded and a giant fishing net landed directly on Emily. Leonard leaped out of her clutches, barely missing the net and the knife. He quickly grabbed his inhaler. Emily furiously squirmed in the net.

"How-dare you!" she shrieked as the alarms loudly sounded.

Sheldon rose from his spot and stared at Emily. He grabbed his can of and sprayed it directly at her eyes.

"What the hell? It burns!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Raj and Stuart slowly crept out of Leonard's room and peered at Emily. Raj let out a huge smile of relief seeing his tormentor finally caught in their trap. Howard, Penny, and Bernadette crept out of apartment 4B.

"The police are on their way to arrest you, bitch!" Penny declared.

The cops arrived to release Emily from the friends' trap and handcuffed her.

"I swear- I will kill you all one day!" she growled.

"That will never happen missy! You will be placed in high security." the officer sternly told her. The seven friends watched the cops drag Emily down the stairs. Once they were out of sight, they all cheered with joy.

"We actually did it! We're safe now!" Raj exclaimed with joy as he tightly hugged each of his friends. Sheldon winced with discomfort.

"I know right! No restraining order needed." Howard cheerfully declared.


	14. Chapter 14

For the first time since his escape from Emily's wrath, Raj was finally able to return to his own apartment and to enjoy himself. He had never felt this happy to be free from constant fear and paranoia. Amy was released from the hospital two days later with a bright pink cast on her broken arm. The press hounded Raj and his friends for the next two days for interviews about their handmade trap that successfully captured Emily. They were hailed as heroes by many scientists, including Stephen Hawking for their lifesaving creation.

All too soon, a week had passed by and the group had finalized their bachelor and bachelorette parties in honor of the Hofstadter's wedding. The women decided to celebrate with an all-day spa event at a Los Angeles hotel. Howard and Raj surprised Sheldon and Leonard by renting a beach house in Mexico for the weekend with a mock kidnapping and a van, completely forgetting about Emily. Sheldon did not understand the meaning of a fake kidnapping. The others grew annoyed and decided to tie and blind Sheldon as the carried him down the four flights of stairs to an old brown van.

Once they were all seated in the van, Raj unblinded and untied Sheldon. He slowly sat up and looked around in discomfort and anger.

"What is the meaning of this? And why are we trapped in some hippie's mobile sex dungeon." he whined with his arms folded.

"Well Sheldon, there's something about this van that you're going to find very interesting..." Howard explained with a smile.

"Does it run on syphilis?" Sheldon retorted.

Raj laughed.

"This van was owned and driven by your personal physics hero, Richard Feynman."

"No." Sheldon stated with disbelief.

"A buddy let me borrow it!" Howard stated.

"This was Feynman's van? That's so cool!" Leonard asked with awe.

"He picked up a lot of cute graduate students in this bad boy."

Sheldon finally smiled.

"And talked about physics with them?"

Leonard looked around his surroundings.

"Could you please tell us where we're going?" he asked.

Howard and Raj smirked.

"We drink lots of margaritas, eat spicy food, with a pretty high chance of getting diarrhea.. we're going to Mexico!" Howard announced.

"I've never been there!" Leonard exclaimed.

"Don't be fooled Leonard-"

Howard's smile suddenly faded.

"Guys... the gas is low. We got to go to a gas station as soon as possible." he told his friends.

"Really?" Leonard replied.

"I swear the tank was full when I first got it. I don't understand this but maybe I'm wrong."

"Nice going Wolowitz." Sheldon scoffed.

"Do you know where the nearest gas station is?" Raj questioned in confusion.

Howard paused and scanned the area.

"I don't know. I think we passed all of them and the next one is pretty far. I think we should turn around."

Howard turned the van around and drove back to Pasadena to find the nearest gas station.

Meanwhile, the girls happily drove in Penny's car to Los Angeles for their spa day.

"I've never been to a spa before." Amy stated with excitement.

"Really? Never?" Bernadette asked with surprise.

"Never. My mother wouldn't let me. She didn't like my body to be exposed in public. She's always threatened me to put me in the sin closet if I did anything like putting on a bikini, a tattoo or even piercing my ears." she replied as she loosely gripped on her cast.

"That's terrible. I can see why you aren't close to your mother." Bernadette remarked.

"I know."

Amy and Bernadette noticed that Penny had not spoken a word for some time.

"You okay Penny?" Amy asked.

Penny turned around and sighed.

"I'm not sure if I should tell my parents that I eloped with Leonard." she told her friends.

"Why wouldn't you?" Bernadette questioned.

"Well, I don't want them to break their hearts."

"So you're telling me that you're keeping a huge secret from your entire family?"

Penny nodded.

"How long do you think you're going to keep this from them?" Amy wondered out loud.

"My dad's not getting any younger. So, if I wait long enough, I'll tell him that he walked me down the aisle and it was magical." Penny replied.

"You are not going to lie to your family like that. Call your parents, right now!" Bernadette barked.

"But... it's going to break their hearts."

"I don't care. Tell them the truth! I don't like being lied to. Would you like it if Leonard kept some secret from you?"

Penny paused and glanced at her phone.

"Alright. Here goes nothing."

Before Penny could touch her phone, Bernadette's phone rang.

"Hi dad. How's it going?" she asked.

She loudly gasped as her father's garbled voice talked on.

"What do you mean Emily escaped? She was in a cell with high security!"

Penny and Amy froze in shock as they tried to listen to Bernadette's conversation with her father.

"That makes no sense to me. I gotta go!"

Bernadette hung up.

"Emily... escaped from prison just now and there's a manhunt going around now. We got to go home and tell the guys!" she cried as she sharply turned into a strip mall parking lot to return to Pasadena.

Richard Feynman's van ran out of gas before the men could reach a gas station. They were trapped in an isolated desert road.

"This is all your fault Wolowitz!" Sheldon angrily shouted.

"Sheldon! Stop blaming Howard! Obviously there's something is wrong with it!" Leonard snapped as he called the police for the third time.

"Busy again. What is their deal?"

Howard and Raj shrugged.

"Who knows." Raj sighed.

Howard's phone suddenly rang.

"Hi sweetie! Everything okay? You won't believe this-"

Howard paused.

"Oh my God! Emily escaped?!"

Raj's face turned pale.

The terror and paranoia plagued Raj's mind once more. He stood in his spot pacing back and forth.

"We're on route 79 right by Palomar Mountain. But how did this happen? I thought she was in an area with high security!" Howard blurted out.

Sheldon and Leonard fearfully tried to catch on.

"Oh no," Raj muttered as his heart raced. A cold sweat drenched his shirt.

"Ok Bernie, me and the guys will..."

Howard suddenly looked away and his blue eyes widened with pure horror.

"RAJ! MOVE!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

Before Raj could look to see what was going on, he felt a strong force shove him away from the van.

A loud drop sounded on Bernadette's phone. It beeped and fell silent. All three women gasped.

"Oh God..." Bernadette muttered.


	15. Chapter 15

Raj landed facedown onto the flat road. He panted furiously as he lifted his head and only saw the empty road and the desert environment. He let out a small sigh of relief.

"My- arm!" Howard loudly gasped.

Raj quickly turned to the other direction to see Howard sprawled on the sand with a knife lodged into his right shoulder. Leonard was shaking as Sheldon stood next to him with a stunned look and shoved his hands in his pockets. A figure dressed in all black kneeled before Howard.

"Playing superhero, Clogzilla? Tut, tut tut. Shame that my knife missed your heart..." Emily's voice jeered as she yanked the knife out of Howard's shoulder. Howard gingerly gasped and clenched his teeth. Blood slowly leaked through his right sleeve.

Raj's terror transformed into rage within seconds.

"You... BITCH! That's my best friend!" he roared as he charged towards her. He punched her squarely in the face.

Emily smirked as she clutched her blood drenched knife.

"You know Rajesh, that knife wasn't meant for him, it was for you!" she sneered as she stepped onto Howard's wound.

Raj cradled Howard into his arms.

"If it weren't for you, Clogzilla wouldn't have been stabbed, your colleague Barry Kripke would still be alive!" she told the men.

Raj gasped.

"What?"

"Whoopsie. I guess I spilled the beans."

Howard panted as he tightly clutched his bloody arm.

"You're the one who ran over Barry and attacked Amy are you?" Howard said through gasps.

Emily winced.

"Oh my. You are all very bright men. Leaking all of my secrets! Yes, I ran over that bastard because I thought it was you, Rajesh. When I saw his face, I decided to run him over anyway since he would probably have ratted on me! Also, I was the one who attacked that bitch!"

Sheldon's face reddened.

"Excuse me, you're the bitch not Amy!" he screamed.

"Shut up Cooper! Let me finish! As soon as I saw her, I had to kill her. But she was too smart for my knife. She grabbed it from me and threw it across the street and I had to do plan B: I bludgeoned her with my bag and then, some good samaritan came by to save the day before I could finish her off. It's a shame he wasn't as smart as her." she admitted as she gestured towards Howard and grabbed him by the hair.

She placed her knife towards his chest.

"Like it or not Koothrappali, this is entirely your fault. Thanks to you, you ruined my life! I lost my dermatology license and all my so called friends now think I'm a nutcase because of you! If you never broke up with me in the graveyard, none of this would have ever happened."

Raj's face reddened.

"No. It's yours! I ended things all because I felt like we were very different people! You are a nutcase! Normal people don't go around hurting and killing innocent people! Howard, Kripke, and Amy never deserved this!" he cried.

Emily laughed.

"Oh really? I think you deserve a long, cruel, excruciating death more than them or any of the rest your God-forsaken friends, combined!"

Leonard trembled even harder and desperately shoved his inhaler down his mouth.

"Uh-uh. I think not!" Emily jeered in a sing-song voice.

She snatched the inhaler from Leonard's hands and smashed it as hard as she could with her foot.

"That's my inhaler!" Leonard panted.

"Too bad, so sad!"

Howard was gingerly wincing in Emily's clutches.

Emily looked at the four men and the old van.

"Piece of garbage. So easy to lose gas." she muttered.

"A piece of garbage? That was Richard Feynman's old van! He was a world known physicist! It was you who wasted all of the gas!" Sheldon shouted.

Leonard gave him an irritated look.

"Oh well, I have no idea who that is and nor do I care! And yes, it was me. Anyway, I want to say this to you one last time Rajesh. You have two options. A, you and I will be a couple once more and I promise I'll take Wolowitz to the nearest hospital and I'll never hurt you or any of your friends again. Or B, I will run you and the others down with this knife, starting with him..." Emily offered, inching the knife closer to Howard's chest.

Raj glared at the deranged ex dermatologist. Howard trembled in agony and terror. Leonard and Sheldon looked at Raj, both eagerly waiting for his choice. Emily grew impatient.

"Make up your mind Koothrappali. No time for your games." she hissed.

Raj's heart raced even harder. He could not bear to lose his friends. At the same time, he had no interest in dating a murderess.

"C-come on Raj," Howard said gingerly as Emily inched the knife closer, touching his dark blue and green plaid shirt.

Emily let out a sigh.

"Very well then Koothrappali. Since you can't decide between me and your little friend, I'll make the decision for you. I think it's time to put an end to his suffering.." she purred as she approached Howard.

Before Emily could proceed to impale him, she let out a harsh scream and slumped onto the floor.

Penny approached her, baseball bat in hand.

"What did you do to them!?" she screamed as she saw Howard's bloodied arm.

"Stay away from them!" she cried as she aggressively swung the bat and struck her repeatedly. Emily screamed and pleaded Penny to stop.

The four men watched in awe. Howard smirked.

"G-girl fight!" he shouted with excitement.

Penny struck Emily until she stopped struggling. She stood before Raj's tormentor, panting.

"Nice job, man hands." Sheldon praised.

"Did you kill her?" Leonard asked.

Penny bent over and checked Emily's pulse in different areas.

"I think so. Didn't feel anything." she replied as she tightly hugged Leonard.

Raj weakly smiled upon hearing the news but soon shifted his focus on Howard's condition.

"Buddy- it's no big deal..." Howard told him as Raj gave him his purple jacket to control the bleeding.

"You need to go to a doctor!" Leonard shouted as he dialed 911.

Amy and Bernadette rushed to the scene. Bernadette let out a loud gasp.

"OH HOWIE!" she screamed as she tightly hugged him.

"Bernadette, he saved my life! I was the one who was supposed to get stabbed but he... pushed me away from her," Raj cried.

Bernadette's eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Really. I couldn't just let Raj get stabbed by that crazy bitch!" Howard yelped, looking at his blood soaked hand.

"You're so brave Howie," Bernadette told her husband as the sound of sirens echoed the desert air.


End file.
